Member States agreed on Wednesday 11 December, at the meeting of Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper I), to amend Regulation 715/2007 on the type approval of motor vehicles by setting the conformity factor at 1.43 for nitrogen oxide emissions. Above all, they agreed, not without creating dissatisfaction among several delegations, that the decision on the conformity factor should remain within the political realm.
The conformity factor is used to determine compliance with the Euro 6 emission limits taking into account the technical measurement uncertainties associated with the use of portable emission measurement systems (PEMS) in real driving conditions. These uncertainties are related to the outside temperature and to the driver’s driving style.
Thus, Member States agreed to support the European Commission’s proposal for setting the conformity factor at 1.43 for nitrogen oxide emissions and 1.5 for particulates.
On the other hand, Member States have modified the procedure for revising the conformity factor. The Commission had proposed that, on the basis of an annual report from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), it could revise the conformity factor each year by delegated act. The Member States preferred that this be done every 2 years and, above all, by co-decision. In other words, whereas the European Commission favoured an approach based entirely on scientific evidence, Member States preferred to give prevalence to politics.
In particular, the partial general approach was supported by Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and many Central and Eastern European Member States (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania). Germany reportedly took an ambiguous position. In other words, these are the Member States with a significant automotive sector, or those that constitute the “hinterland” of car manufacturers, observes a diplomatic source.
The agreement was strongly opposed by some delegations, including Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands, which attached a joint statement to the mandate. For these Member States, the standards laid down in Regulation 715/2007 shall also apply in the case of real driving. They also recall that the EU General Court’s ruling of December 2018 (see EUROPE 12159/33 and 11549/17) went along the same lines. For these three Member States, based on JRC data, the conformity factor should not exceed 1.32. Above all, they ask that the level be set once the JRC report is delivered at the end of this year.
Not surprisingly, the agreement caused teeth to grind within the European Parliament. “The States of the European Union want to maintain the pollution permits that are poisoning us all”, said Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), chairwoman of the ‘Transport and Tourism’ Committee (TRAN). Parliament has not yet adopted its position on the issue. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)